Transat AT Inc. reported a second-quarter loss of $29.2 million compared with a loss of $98.3 million last year as its revenue more than doubled. An Air Transat plane is seen as an Air Canada plane lands at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal on Thursday, May 16, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
MONTREAL – Transat AT Inc. shrunk its losses by more than two-thirds in its latest quarter amid a major sales boost propelled by solid leisure travel demand on top of higher prices.
The travel company saw revenues more than double year over year while it reported a second-quarter loss of $29.2 million compared with a loss of $98.3 million a year ago.
“The demand for leisure travel, which is Transat’s primary niche, is holding steady,” CEO Annick Guérard said in a statement.
The high volume drove up prices by 15 per cent at the outset of the quarter and nearly 24 per cent by the end compared with a year earlier, she said.
“In addition, Transat actively continued its fleet optimization plan, deploying in winter 2023 a capacity comparable to winter 2019 with 20 fewer aircraft in service.”
Transat plans to deploy 89 per cent of its seat capacity this summer relative to 2019 levels, with the vast majority bound for Europe. More than 60 per cent of those seats are already sold, Guérard said.
Passengers across the continent have continued to scratch the travel itch that built up over two years under COVID-19 restrictions.
Air Canada eked out a quarterly profit of $4 million for the first three months of the year and for only the second time since 2019. However, Transat has yet to push its bottom line into the black since that year, with 14 straight quarters of losses.
On Thursday, Transat reported its loss amounted to 76 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended April 30 compared with a loss of $2.60 per diluted share the year before.
Revenue totalled $870.1 million, up from $358.2 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat said it lost 21 cents per share compared with an adjusted loss of $2.95 per share a year earlier.
The company also raised its target for adjusted operating income margin to 5.5 to seven per cent for its 2023 financial year, up from its initial target range of four to six per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2023.
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